ZASTAVA eng. THE FLAG

“Zastava” (eng. Flag), 2011

The work problematizes the question of Croatian identity by dissipating it to the point of being visually (un)recognizable. By altering the appearance of the flag, the results of the twenty years of Croatian independence are presented. What is truly Croatian that is left in Croatia is a question that a flag folded in this manner gives a fairly clear answer to: from a (millennial) dependence, through (bloody) independence, until the reinstatement of (a sold-out) dependence. The red, white, and blue national squares are gradually blended with other colors in individual visualizations, and turn into multi-colored squares. The idea was to reveal the contrast between the desired and gained: the flag as identity, a symbol made out of finest material – silk, is transformed into a plastic flag – an artificial, undergradable destructor. In the end, the questions which remain unanswered are who we are going to become if/when the squares turn into irregular surfaces, and when we are going to hear another shout from a fortress, only this time with a different complement: “We don’t have Croatia!” Or is the loss going to be an unannounced, gradual, and virtually imperceptible assimilation.